VIRGINBLUE
058
kakadu
the group to collect firewood from fallen
branches. From the rea r of the troopy, the
six of us ooh and aah as the purple and
orange hues light up the Arnhem Land
escarpments and make skeletal silhouettes
of the tall, leafless trees. We spy a herd
of water buffalo gra zing off the road and
Trudgeon stops the troopy for us to hang
our lenses out the window. The sleepy
bea sts, looking equally darling and fierce,
form a ragged line and start to head for
the troopy at a noncommittal pace.
The next day, the didgeridoo alarm is
replaced by a mobile-phone-generated
wake-up call. "No muck around," prompts
Trudgeon, playfully. The golden hour is
not to be missed on this day of hiking,
which will include welcome chill-out time
for swimming and dozing on sandbanks
and rock ba nks. It's a hot day, and using
hiking poles is advisable, but the rock
climb, rising higher and deeper into the
gorge, isn't too treacherous.
The most spectacula r of the Koolpin
water pools is dubbed 'the Black Hole' by
the guides. The water is black, glossy a nd
deep and there is no sign of the freshwater
crocs that potentially lurk at the bottom
('freshies' won't attack unless provoked).
To enter 'the Koolpin Club', you must
swim 200-plus metres to the bikini-
displacing waterfall. Be sure to take time
to float a nd gaze up, with silent water-
filled ears, at the looming rock walls.
Koolpin Gorge is a mostly deserted oa sis
of late-night star ca nopies, sandy plots and
pellucid swimming holes. Anyone with
a romantic disposition will want to set up
camp on a sandbank with a bottle of rosé.
However, when we suggest this, Trudgeon
pulls rank -- permits and all. Instead, we
return to our airy tents, drink three bottles
of rosé and blow spittle into Trudgeon's
didgeridoos, attempting to make a guttural
sound, until he decides we should be kind
to our neighbours, however few.
We've all seen pictures of Kakadu:
mist on mangroves, hefty lily pads in croc-
infested waters, dawn skies scattered with
paradisiacal birds. In some ways, the place
feels like a cliché -- a beautiful national
treasure perhaps a little too synonymous
with Crocodile Dundee.
I had always thought I'd reserve a trip
to Kakadu for my grey-haired days
-- it would always be there, uncha nged
from the images in the tourism campaigns
-- but I'm glad I didn't wait. And I'm not
at all ashamed of my photo album, where
I look like every other urba n tourist in
the outback, wea ring fisherma n's pants
and sensible shoes, doing yoga poses over
Koolpin Gorge or jumping more than six
feet into Ba rramundi Gorge.
Getting there • To book your Virgin Blue
f light to Darwin visit w w w.virginblue.
com.au or call 13 67 89 (in Australia).
We ooh and aah as the purple
and orange hues light up the
Arnhem Land escarpments.
Right: Start
snapping!
Kakadu's flood
plains at sunset
are picture-
perfect. Below:
Don't expect
your car to
be clean after
navigating
Kakadu's
dirt roads.